Companies are leaving Hong Kong now that China has ramped up its oppression. Go figure.
Ever since its transfer from the United Kingdom to China in 1997, Hong Kong has billed itself as a bridge between East and West, a capitalist gateway to the world’s second largest economy. But as China has upended Hong Kong’s autonomy and cracked down on free speech, companies are less inclined to invest there.
Last month, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong released the results of a survey of its members. Of the 325 companies who responded to the poll, 42% said they were considering or planning to leave the city. According to data compiled by the real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, Hong Kong now faces the highest rate of commercial real estate vacancies in 15 years.
Residents are following businesses out of town. Hong Kong’s population of about 7.5 million shrank by 46,500 in 2020, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal.
It’s not hard to see why. On Thursday, 500 police officers stormed the newsroom of Apple Daily, a leading Hong Kong newspaper. They arrested executives and editors, accusing them of colluding with foreign forces. Western media captured photos of journalists in handcuffs being escorted away.
Less than two weeks before that, on the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, police blocked off Victoria Park, the site of an annual vigil marking the event that attracts thousands of people. The world was treated to photos of a blank, brightly lit park where crowded commemoration should have been.
These scenes are stark and intentional. Beijing continues to oppose free markets and free people, removing symbols of each from public view.
And now, China is reaping the whirlwind.
There is something to note here for Beijing: When you manipulate markets, stifle dissent and oppress citizens, don’t be surprised when your business sector looks as empty as Victoria Park.
The companies leaving Hong Kong may be doing so as a political statement. That’s one we could support. But such philosophical notions as democracy and human rights might not even factor into some of these moves. Some may be leaving simply because they understand the basic truth that freedom is good for business. That’s a truth Beijing should embrace.
There is also something to note here for Washington: As China turns more toward oppressing its people and spreading its influence across the globe, the Biden administration along with Congress and the business community — including firms based here in Texas — shouldn’t be neutral actors. Protecting and expanding human freedom should be an avowed goal of the U.S. government and it should show up in policies ranging from sanctions imposed on oppressive regimes to initiatives aimed at expanding free markets. To the extent that Washington succeeds at securing unfettered commerce, the business community in America and Texas will thrive.
— The Dallas Morning News
